Pandora
by Raye-Sama
Summary: After inheriting title and lands in Spain, Sara realizes just how much she misses the Labyrinth and a certain handsome Devil King. JS Rating subject to change.
1. Chapter 1

Pandora

"Her love awaits me on the distant shore

The river flows between us

Crocodiles on the sandbars" (Anonymous Egyptian)

"What should I do about this?"

The morning light flickered pleasantly within the mirror but gave no answer. Recently her father had come into some wealth, his great uncle, whom no one had ever seen, much less heard of, had died, leaving her father lands, and title in Spain. Sighing Sara turned from the mirror to gaze out at the countryside before her. She pondered her new life, thanks to her grandmother's uncle she now lived in a beautiful mansion in the Spanish countryside. Although the movement had been fast and unsettling, Sara now considered the mansion her home and spent much of her day walking through the extensive gardens and oak lined avenues.

However there was one place she did not dare to tread, in the Southern Gardens far behind the Rose Garden there was a gate covered in ivy connected to a wall equally as concealed. She could see what was behind the gate from the outdoor ballroom on the roof of the manner; it was in fact a Labyrinth with a stone gazebo at the center. Although she was curious, she could not shake the irrational fear that something truly dreadful had been sealed within. The key to the gate was nowhere to be found and Sara could say only a very little in Spanish. So it seemed that her Labyrinth would be just beyond her reach, not that she had the courage to enter.

Sighing once more Sara languidly stood and dressed. She lazily pulled the White Sundress over her head mussing her hair a bit as she did so. Then stepping out to her balcony she took a moment to feel the breeze and sun on her skin. Below the servants were busy preparing for a ball her father was giving that night in honor of his meteoric rise to the aristocracy. Suddenly memories of the masquerade she attended while in the Labyrith were fresh in her mind. Shaking her head she moved from the window and paced about her room a moment. Then with silent resolve not to spend the day pining in her room she moved toward one of the larger portraits decorating her walls. Feeling the Frame a moment she then bent back the portrait to reveal a door. She'd found it when she was looking around the manor her first night and since had found it a particularly effective way of avoiding her Stepmother.

She walked through the passage into a long sun filled corridor that culminated with the presence of two doors: the one on the right led to a winding stairwell and a door that would drop you into the middle of the rose garden, the door on the left led to a crimson bed chamber, and another passage way that led to one of the guest bedrooms. Sara liked to imagine that the previous lady of the house held midnight trysts here but it seemed improbable, she had heard from the servants that spoke English that the master and his mistress were very much in love. Sara paused and looked out the window at the labyrinth again with a longing look, then shaking her head she turned from the window, swung open the door on the right, turned the handle, sped down the stairs and into the secluded rose garden.

The sun had now reached its full height in the sky and Sara had to close her eyes to adjust to its brightness. Slowly opening her eyes she took in the sight around her. Fully bloomed red rose bushes lined her view until she saw her destination, a small stone gazebo adorned by climbing roses. This was her favorite retreat. She walked to the bench, sat, and felt underneath it and took out a small red book, feeling the words of the title gently she knew the truth contained within the pages. Sighing sadly she laid flat whispering regretfully,

"You have no power over me"

She let the book drop to the ground as she lay knowing the world she had fallen in love with was too far out of her reach, the man…

"Jareth"

Like a soft kiss the name floated from her lips, she covered her mouth, closed her eyes and prayed she hadn't done something terrible, but no one came. "Of course he wouldn't come"

"So this is where I find you?"

Sara opened her eyes to her stepmother glaring down at her.

"Sara what are you doing? You look a positive mess you know your father is expecting us to look a certain way tonight. Go upstairs immediately and get ready we can't have the press finding you in that state!"

Sara wanted to slap her across the face for her cruel words but she could not bring herself to actually do it.

'Why can't they just leave me alone' she thought bitterly but rose anyway and followed her wicked stepmother back into the mansion; where she was greeted by her ladies maid, Magdalena.

The short, round, elderly woman rushed Sara back to her room, stripped her, and then threw her into a bath of what once was warm water. Shivering, she proceeded to wash her hair and body not noticing the owl watching her from the tree outside her window. Magdalena did, however, and shooed it away

"Magdalena?" Sara asked thinking the woman had gone mad.

"Perdóneme por favor lo pierdo fue un pájaro impar que mira en la ventana." (please forgive me miss it was an odd looking bird at the window) she spoke while helping Sara into her bath robe.

She then preceded to towel dry her hair as Sara tried to translate what she had said.

'Pardon, please something window something bird something'

"Bird!" she exclaimed scaring Magdalena half out of her skin, and rushed to the window, but she saw nothing.

"¿Pierde sara es usted bien?" (Miss Sara are you alright?)

Suddenly Sara realized how strange she must have acted just then. With color staining her cheeks at her actions she sighed,

"perdóneme, yo quiero pájaros" (sorry, I like birds) while looking at the ground.

'what a lame excuse, I was just so excited that it might be' Sara thought dejectedly.

Magdalena grabbed her by the wrist and sat her in front of her mirror, her smile indicating that she did not mind her odd behavior in the slightest. Sara smiled back, even if they had a hard time understanding each other verbally, Sara felt Magdalena knew what she wanted. _Grrowwlll_ and obviously right now that was a sandwich.

'I forgot, I haven't eaten anything since dinner last night.'

"puede tengo alimento ahora" (may I have food now) although she had stumbled slightly when speaking she realized that she was starting to understand the language better.

"El alimento? ah por supuesto usted debe estar muriendo de hambre pobrecito que usted es! iré y le conseguiré algún almuerzo. preocupa no seré ido no mucho tiempo y entonces nosotros le podemos hacer hermoso para esa ramera de una madrastra que usted tiene"

Then Sara was alone again. Magdalena had spoken too fast for her to understand anything she was saying, but she hoped she was going to get food. Sara stood and walked carefully toward her balcony and tightening her robe around her stepped outside, looking for the weird bird that Magdalena saw.

'I might not have even understood her correctly'

"I'm going crazy. Jareth, just appear if you are going to." She yelled in agitation.

She looked around for some sign of his presence but saw none. She searched the grounds again just if by chance she had missed something but there was nothing not even a hint of glitter. Sighing sadly she closed the door to the balcony and began to towel dry her hair again.

Several hours of primping, curling, and lacing later Sara was ready for the ball, Magdalena had excused herself moments before and now Sara was looking at herself in the mirror. she admired how the off the shoulder sleeves made her shoulders square and how the large skirt accentuated her tightly bound waist. The deep red suited her dark hair and pale skin but she was the most proud of her hair; Magdalena had curled her long hair into tiny ringlets which then were pinned into a bun at the back of her head. Sara had taken a few curls out to hang down past her shoulder drawing attention to her long bare neck.

'I don't look to bad if I do say so myself' she thought picking up a tube of deep red lipstick.

She applied the sultry red lipstick and noticed right away that it made her skin look whiter. Being pleased with her appearance she stepped out onto the balcony again, and looked down below at all of the guests who had already arrived. It would be a lie to say that she wasn't nervous even though she had been training for this night since she arrived in Spain. Since she was the only blood female alive she would have to lead the dancing. The only problem was that she didn't know anyone.

'I wish he would appear tonight' she thought and although she meant it she could not bring herself to say it aloud.

A knock on the door brought her back to her senses it seemed she could not postpone destiny any longer. She went to grab her fan and found a black lace mask with a note wrapped around it. She carefully untied the note,

_Sara,_

_Choose wisely._

She smiled, grabbed her fan, the mask, and was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you to everyone who read and enjoyed the first chapter! And thank you to all of the reviews! I hope I make you all proud. I really enjoyed writing this chapter, and I have the third written but I am not sure if it is the direction I want to go in or not. So we shall see.

Chapter Two

"Yet I plunge into the river

My hear slicing currents, steady

As if I were walking" (Anonymous Egyptian)

* * *

The Grand Ballroom was alive with festivity and the joy that can only come from an endless supply of champagne and minimal food. Sara was nervous. Beginning the dancing, she had been told, was the most important part of a ball and always fell to the highest ranking blood female hostess. Or in small parties the hostess or a new bride. Usually the partner is already chosen during the planning stages of the ball, but as no one had had the proper introductions necessary for engaging in polite society, Sara was left to her own judgment, a fact that, until now, had set quite well with her.

She gazed at the Harold then back at the crown noticing for the first time that all of the guests were wearing masks. How she had overlooked this detail she was not sure but sighed with no little amount of horror at her unfailing ability to incur Murphy's Law. Taking a deep breath and checking her appearance one last time, she nodded to the Harold and stepped out onto the landing.

"Countess Sara Elena Williams y Bourbon" He announced in a bold confident voice.

The music stopped, everyone turned their expressionless faces toward her. Suddenly she felt very out of place, very young, and very alone.

Slowly, steadily, she descended unto the assembly, as she reached the last step the crowd began to give way signaling her right to choose. She scanned the room masking her desperation to see a sign from Jareth. The note had to have been from him and he had obviously meant that she should choose him. Yet she couldn't see any trace of him, the disparity of dashed hopes thrust itself upon her, when she realized she must choose someone else.

She motioned to take the hand of the nearest man, then, as if by magic, out of the corner of her eye, he appeared. Clad in blue velvet, wearing the smirk she knew so well, the vision of all her guilty fantasies. She turned to meet his gaze unconsciously moving toward him. She curtseyed, he bowed. Gently he placed her hand in his, eyes still locked together; he placed his other hand about her waist signaling the music to begin. Sara was in a daze uncertain how she should react. She imagined herself madly in love with him in fantasy but the reality of their past, previously ignored, and the reality of his particularly hard chest and strong hands, began to overtake her senses.

"Aren't you happy to see me Sara?" he asked mockingly. He towered over her, his mere size consuming her. She turned her eyes away from his, searching the room.

"I don't remember inviting you." she whispered defiantly. He laughed, spinning her round the dance floor effortlessly as others began to join in.

"Was I not summoned?" his eyes were teasing as she stared back at him in confusion.

"I thought I had to wish for something?" he grinned at her playfully. She could feel every inch of skin tingle where it met with his and feeling at the brink of her control began to look away again. Trying to focus on anything but whose arms she was in.

"You did wish for something precious. Can you not guess what it was?" His eyes were dancing with the mischievous rapture that could only manifest when teasing his Sara. How he relished that look of defiant confusion that frosted her golden orbs, or how the chandelier flickered in their endless depth. He felt he should never tire of staring at her.

"Jareth I don't understand" he frowned. She could be so cruel.

"Sara" she turned her eyes to the side noticing that all the guests were looking, no starring at them; all engaged in fevered whispers as they swirled around them. She looked back at Jareth, he was smiling triumphantly. It was all too real, but it didn't make sense. Sara began to struggle,

"It's too much" she whispered to herself wriggling out of his grip.

"Sara?" he attempted to resuscitate their dancing but Sara shrank back wriggling out of his arms. Then stood a moment and turned, pushed her way through the startled crowd, onto the balcony, down the steps, through the southern gardens, into the rose garden, only stopping when she realized she was standing before her labyrinth. Suddenly she realized that this was the second time she had run away from the king during a masquerade.

'I'm such a coward' she thought as she slid to the ground, her back against the ivy encrusted wall of the labyrinth, her head in her hands. She began to laugh mortified because she had been looking for the mirror and realized she would not find it.

'Great' she sobbed 'I've run away from what I want twice now, what if he doesn't come after me?'

"Sara" she didn't look up his voice must be in her head.

"Sara look at me" he said a bit more forcefully.

Jareth had been enjoying himself he thought Sara was too but the way she tore herself from him was a reminder of a grim past.

'No, this will not repeat itself' he thought staring at her slumped on the ground.

Sara looked up at him embarrassed that she had run away from him so suddenly and mortified that he had found her crying.

"Did I frighten you?" he asked sitting casually down next to her.

"A little" she replied averting her eyes.

"What do you want from me Sara?" she looked somberly at him. "I ask for so little" her somber expression turned to a glare in an instant.

"You still want Toby! You have no right!" she yelled standing and preparing to storm off but his tight grip on her wrist and pleading eyes deflated her anger. Cautiously she sat back down.

"I am not here for the child." She could feel the sincerity and she was ashamed.

"I'm sorry" he still hadn't released her wrist and it didn't look like he was going to. "Jareth, why are you here?" Jareth sighed.

"I am fulfilling your wish and mine as well"

"But" she hesitated, "I didn't wish for anything"

At this Jareth was beginning to get annoyed.

"Oh you didn't?" he had heard the call with such desperation that it caused his vision to blur. Yet she dared deny she wanted him? Nearly begged for him to be at her side? Yet he had experience when it came to the Sara and emotions, and he knew he could not rush her. It seemed that he would forever be cast as the villain, although, he conceded, he was partly to blame.

Sara now felt the awkwardness of the situation take root and she swore she'd break the silence or die.

"Jareth would you do me a favor?"

Fearing she would send him packing again he nearly refused, be he knew that even if her design was to hurt him he could refuse her nothing.

"Ask and you shall receive my cruel girl" she gazed at him at his use of cruel.

'Is cruel an endearment?' but brushed it aside.

"I want the key to the labyrinth" she announced. Jareth looked at her with confusion, an unusual emotion to grace his ageless face. Since when had there been a key to his labyrinth?

"Sara" he paused "I don't have a key, there isn't one" Sara frowned.

"All I wanted to do was to explore my labyrinth it's been tempting me all week" Jareth was still confused. Was he not the King of the labyrinth?

"Your labyrinth?" he paused.

"Yes, we're sitting in front of it, it's been freaking me out" Jareth turned, stood, and with wonder began feeling under the ivy amazed when he felt an iron gate beneath his fingers. He smirked.

"Would you like to go in?"

Sara turned excited, "Yes!" then quieter "but you have to come with me" she did not bother to hide her wariness. Sure she was curious but this labyrinth had given her a strange enthralling feeling all week, and ever since her first adventure with the labyrinth she had learned to listen to her intuition. Or at least notice it.

"Tsk, tsk, Sara, afraid of a little labyrinth?" he smirked playfully mocking her and enjoying how her cheeks reddened and how that delightful defiance illuminated her eyes as she glared at him.

"S-so I have no reason to think well of them!" she stuttered embarrassed that she was so flustered. Yet this only deepened his need to tease her. He mustered up his most smug expression and with eyes sparkling with victory challenged her.

"Is that so? Pity?" his smirk deepened and took on a new glow as she glared at him playfully realizing that this was as close to flirting as she was going to get.

"Sara?!" the crass voice of her stepmother threw her out of her reverie. She turned and in the distance perceived a small party headed her way, her now very angry stepmother leading the crusade. Fearing the embarrassment of being found and admonished in front of Jareth, she quickly grasped his sleeve, sending her best pleading look his way. He knew what she wanted and could not deny the thrill of her clinging to him begging to be taken into the labyrinth. It was not his labyrinth but it was a start. Smirking triumphantly he conjured a crystal, grabbed Sara close, threw it into the air, and they were gone. When the party reached the spot all that remained was a cloud of descending glitter.

* * *

Hint for chapter three!

"On every aspect the scene was the same

All ruined, desolate, forlorn, and savage

Neither hand, nor foot within the precinct came

To rectify or ravage" (Thomas Hood "The Haunted House")


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: sorry for the delay. Way too much on my plate at the moment. Rest assured, if you care, I am not discontinuing the story. Love love!

"On every aspect the scene was the same

All ruined, desolate, and savage

Neither hand, nor foot within the precinct came

To rectify or ravage" (_The Haunted House_)

It was darker and colder somehow as they appeared inside the Labyrinth. A chill Climbed up Sara's spine causing her to unconsciously cling to Jareth. In the distance they could still hear her stepmother shouting for them. Sara let out a sigh.

'Dodged that awkward moment' she thought letting go of Jareth's arm.

"It seems this place has been abandoned" Jareth commented looking around at the overgrown ivy that adorned the walls and the once perfect stone tiles that now were cracked and home to weeds.

"I guess you're right" Sara remarked taking in the scene as well. Suddenly Jareth turned serious as he knelt to the ground feeling the stone slabs.

"Do you feel it Sara?" he said in a tone all too serious.

"Feel what?" she replied suddenly turning anxious.

"There is something evil here." Jareth stared hard into Sara's eyes. Sara gasped and stared frightfully around her.

"Evil?" she laughed nervously. Suddenly Jareth broke out into a wild smirk and Sara had the deepest wish to hit him somewhere very uncomfortable.

"Jareth! You Jerk!" she screamed as she stormed past him. Jareth chuckled a bit before following after her causally.

"Now now Sara, don't you think I can sense danger?" he teased smirking at her back.

At this comment Sara whirled around to face the arrogant Goblin King, intent on berating him, but before she could act out her desire he pulled her into his chest, whispering softly into her ear

"Don't be cross love it was just a bit of fun."

Had his chest always been this hard? She felt completely engulfed within his embrace and was almost content to stay locked in his arms forever. However, embarrassment would win this battle. Sara pushed herself from his chest with little ease as he did not relent in his hold.

"Please control yourself" she sighed, her face red with embarrassment, her eyes downcast, her small hands still lightly placed on his chest. He smiled at her, knowing that he had already won the war and that she would be his as he was so completely hers.

So with a roguish smirk in place he offered her his arm.

"Do forgive me my dear." The triumph evident in his voice.

Hesitating she took his outstretched hand and began sauntering through the labyrinth, through its twists, turns, fumbling slightly at the dead ends. Jareth could take her to the middle easily but she had wanted to beat her labyrinth just as she had beaten his so many months ago. It seemed longer to him, almost unbearable, and just as surely as his triumph had ensnared him, his insecurities began to rear their mangled heads.

If he were to be rejected again, his grip tightened on her arm unconsciously causing Sara to look at him in confusion. Jareth gave his best smile to reassure her but inside he felt a pang, she has yet to smile at him. He really did ask for so little. If only Sara would smile at him and let the warmth reach her eyes. If she would initiate affection, all he needed was one moment, yet this was also false, he would never be satisfied with one moment. Unfortunately for the great Goblin King it could be nothing less than all encompassing love, which at this moment he feared was one sided.

'And why should it not be? I am but a disgusting evil creature, unfit for even my own kind." He scoffed.

"Jareth"

he heard her voice, and realized that he had completely spaced out, and apparently with a rather serious look on his face, for his darling Sara was now regarding him with a worried expression that brushed against his last thread of sanity.

"Are you alright? You look so serious all of a sudden" she eyed him intently, but he would not show his surprise, he couldn't be that venerable, not yet.

So with a masking smirk he chided "You wound me darling how could I be anything but merry?" he prayed that his acting would tarry her from discovering his plight, but had he ever won with Sara?

"Jareth, I-I wanted to apologize for running away from you before, I" she turned to face him her unsteady eyes finding his unreadable ones. "Well I your just too much for me."

'There I said it' she thought hoping that he would understand her.

But the flash of hurt in his eyes followed by the emotionless void she was used to showed her he could not understand.

"I see. I apologize for causing you pain" he stepped back from her and bowed slightly she could see him tremble slightly. "I will take my leave of you then"

"NO!" Sara's outburst startled both of them, silence paraded between them as the wind blew colder through the ivy, rustling the leaves, the moon lighting the path between their locked eyes, the air desperately wishing for speech, but none came.

Sara merely closed the distance between them gaining courage with each uncertain step, eyes almost filling with salty tears. Unsteadily she lifted her hand to gently touch his breast, he could not hide his surprise his body becoming rigid as she gently laid her head on his hard wide chest and whispered so softly that the wind did not carry it,

"Please don't leave me."

But he heard, and felt his chest tighten. Unsure of reality he slowly raised his arms to embrace her and at the first contact with her trembling form his control failed and he gathered her into his arms as tightly as he could without causing her harm. Pulling away from him slightly she allowed herself to look up at him his eyes that were tightly closed slowly opened revealing an ardent bitter longing mirroring her own and she remembered the words he'd sung to her in the dream.

[There's such a sad love deep in your eyes

A kind of pale jewel opened and closed

Within your eyes

I'll place my love within your eyes]

Sara lifted her head slightly moving her hand to caress his cheek, gently she led his head down until his breath hovered above her lips, her eyes slipping closed she softly pressed her lips to his.

At this Jareth lost all control succumbing to his passion begging for entrance through her bruised lips and she too wrapped up in the moment to refuse returned with fervor; Allowing his firm tongue to massage every little crevice within her wanton mouth. Unable to control herself she let out a deep moan. Jareth pulled her in closer, immersing himself in her essence, begging to be closer. His mind reeled with the scent of her; the passion she could inspire both terrified and excited him, yet he could not get close enough, he tightened his hold but knew it could not be enough.

Slowly they broke apart for air, Sara stared up at him her face flushed and breathing unsteady. She searched his eyes a moment then gave him the most pure smile he had ever seen , breathless he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

"So I guess this changes things" she remarked warmly.

"Are you disappointed?" he answered returning her smile with the warmest one he could muster.

"Are you?" she playfully chided entwining his hand in hers. He starred at their joined hands his chest clenched tightly with uncertainty, but her eyes had mirrored his own. And her lips had been so gentle. He smiled softly.

"Sara may I come again tomorrow?" his plan already formed all depended on her answer.

"Yes" she replied with ease, she almost laughed at the obviousness of it.

"We should return it's getting late." he held out his arm for her and without hesitating she gently grasped it pulling herself closer. At once they were transported into her room glitter falling between them.

"Do you have to go?" she somberly inquired.

He felt his heartbeat quicken again with joy at her displeasure.

"I am afraid I must" he said with no little amount of regret. In truth he mourned leaving her but knew what would happen if he stayed. He had never been one for self control and he didn't want to lose her.

"Don't be gone long" her voice was harsh but he knew she was just as morose as he. Jareth placed a soft kiss on her lips and then one on her forehead, whispered a loving goodnight and disappeared into a new cloud of glitter. Flushed Sara turned toward the window. She would have no sleep tonight.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed yourself. Sorry no preview. I don't have a poem yet to use.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: You were all correct I did not spend the proper time on this so I decided to repost. This is not just a revision there is also more story added. Thanks for the flames! ^_^

Pandora chapter 4

"Is it fair of you letting me be unhappy?

After all this time, our shared history

Is our love so insignificant that you can give up so easily?"

(Eridera Seran)

The rain beat hard on the balcony wind and rain swept in through the open glass doors onto Sara's face as she slowly began to wake. She had slept in her gown which was now uncomfortably digging into her sides. She glanced at the glitter that remained, smiled, and buried her face happily into her pillow. Rolling over to lie on her back she stared at the ceiling, recalled the taste of his lips and his surprisingly gentle touch, 'How could he be so different?' she recalled the scent of him, the tone of his voice, the feel of his skin, warm in the cool night air, and the feel of his arms, his back, his chest, blushing she rolled back onto her side and cradled her pillow between her hands and wondered when Jareth would return.

A knock at the door startled her into a sitting position now conscious of the fact that she had slept in her ball gown, she attempted to pull off a quick change but it was too late. The door creaked as it opened revealing Magdalena carrying a tray of oatmeal and fruit. Her usually jolly appearance seemed to take on a new glow as she gently chided, [Oh you're still in your gown? You're not dressed! I told Elsa to come and wake you!] She put the tray down on the coffee table and stared at Sara expectantly. When Sara didn't move, she clapped her hands and grinning explained, [Your stepmother wants to see you right away!]

Understanding the word _stepmother_ Sara rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. She rolled off of the bed with distinct annoyance and walked over to her closet. After a few moments she settled on her navy skinny jeans, a white tank top, and an over sized red cardigan. Not bothering to fix her hair she glanced at Magdalena, who happened to be staring at her with the most awkward mix of excitement and restraint. Her whole presence sang "I know something you don't know". Sara raised an eyebrow but decided not to ask, she knew she would only understand half of what she was saying anyway. After a few more minutes of fussing Sara sluggishly made her way down the hall to her Stepmothers suite.

'What could she want this early in the morning?' then it dawned on her, 'Oh God I ran away in the middle of the first dance!' suddenly the bad memories of last night came flooding back to her, she had run away like a crazy person, and she could only assume that Jareth then ran after her. Karen had even mobilized a search party. She didn't much care what the aristocracy thought of her or for that matter what Karen thought, but she realized that she probably embarrassed her father. She wondered gravely if the story had made the news. She sighed. Now the already painful task of visiting her power tripping stepmother felt like walking to the scaffold. Sara paused outside her stepmother's door wondering if she should even go in. 'No' she sighed again, 'if I can't even face her how the hell can I call myself a woman'

Sara peeled open the door and slowly let herself inside, Karen was causally reclining on her high backed chair sipping tea and reading that morning's newspaper, still dressed in her night gown and robe. She waited a moment to finish the article then unceremoniously dropped it on the table. The headline read _Rookie Royal Takes Flight, _with a particularly bad photo of Sara attempting to part the crowd. Sara inwardly cringed. 'So it did make the news.'

"My Darling how kind of you to visit" her voice was sugary sweet and cold, at that precise moment Sara felt that she was caught in a trap. She couldn't explain it but she felt that this little meeting was about much more than her misconduct at the ball.

"Was there something you needed?" Sara inquired in the most civil tone she could muster at 8:00 in the morning.

"Sit down" she said in a restrained tone. Karen had the uncanny ability to make Sara feel like she was five years old and about to be punished. This was part of the reason that their relationship was so on edge. It wasn't that Karen was an especially cruel or contentious woman or that she had decided that Sara was incompetent and therefore in need of strict observance, she was just abrasive.

Sara sat down on the couch across from Karen, still feeling a bit uneasy but not willing to let it show on her face.

"I have some wonderful news for you" surprised, Sara could only let out an apprehensive,

"Oh?" Karen straightened herself as if she was truly excited, staring into Sara's eyes with a clever glint.

"Your father and I have decided that you are to be married."

"What? To who! I'm only 17!" Sara exclaimed with the most bewildered expression.

"To whom dear" Karen replied absentmindedly, she had recently gained the annoying habit of constantly correcting her, even when she was right, as another way to politely criticize her in public.

"I hardly think that my grammar is the problem!" Sara was exasperated. "There is absolutely no way Dad agreed to this"

"It's already been decided, after your stunt at the ball last night we're lucky you can get such a fantastic match" she added, in a sneer that suggested that Sara owed this to the family. It seemed that Karen had developed all the social deviance of a seasoned social climber in just a matter of weeks. Sara was both horrified and begrudgingly impressed. However Sara just gaped at her stepmother unable to say anything; this whole situation was just too absurd. An arranged marriage just seemed too cliché. "Have you lost your mind?" Sara asked attempting to keep her anger in check. If possible Karen's eyes became colder.

"Excuse me?"

"Who do you think you are? You've had a title for a week and you're already going to sell your _step_daughter into a political marriage?"

Unexpectedly Karen broke out into a grin. "I'm so glad you understand dear, now everything is settled, your fiancé and his sister are coming to stay with us for a week before the official engagement party. I expect you to be on your best behavior when they arrive tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? I won't do it! Where's Dad? He couldn't have agreed to this!" Sara was standing now but her stepmother paid no mind. She had already gone back to reading another section of the paper.

"I'm afraid he was called away on business last night and won't be back for another week, or so" suddenly Karen put down the paper and rose from her casual position on the chair and began to walk into her inner chambers, only turning to add a nonchalant "That's all" then stopped again to add "Oh I almost forgot, your fiancé's name is Alvaro, ninth in line for the throne, oh how exciting" before Karen left the room humming to herself of "their" good fortune.

Sara however, bolted from the room as soon as her stepmother was out of sight and ran straight until she came to her bedroom. She paced back and forth between hysteria and anger. She knew that Karen was going to force her to do this, and there was not a damn thing apart from running away that she could do about it. She thought about running away, but the pain of losing both her father and her brother stopped her. She would have to find another way. She sat down on her bed then immediately stood up again feeling restless. Then it dawned on her that the only person she could count on to fight for her was only a call away. She took a deep breath and called for Jareth.

"Jareth, I need you" she waited a few moments frantically searching the room. Jareth appeared behind her.

"I see I am called to a bedchamber, what can this mean?" Sara visibly flinched and spun around to see Jareth standing there in front of her, eying her with the most fetching smirk.

"I have a problem" he advanced,

"Oh?"

"My stepmother is marrying me off!" he immediately stopped visibly surprised by the sudden turn of events.

"I beg your pardon?" he replied unsure of what he heard.

"My stepmother is making me get married! I don't know what to do!" Sara started to panic again. "He's going to be here tomorrow! Dad's not here she could have me married off to God knows who before he gets back! How do I stop this!" Sara had started to hyperventilate.

"Obviously you are not going to marry him" Jareth's matter of fact tone cut through her panic,

"How?"Asked Sara in her oh so oblivious way, Jareth sat down on her bed causally clearly not concerned by the problem.

"Well I assume you are not in love with him." Sara was perplexed and truth be told a little upset at the lack of jealously in her fantasy man but was calming down a bit.

"I don't think you understand what is going on here. Karen is going to make me marry another man. Don't you care?" 'This might really be the final straw if Jareth doesn't care about this than I am going to run away' but at this Jareth only smirked.

"Are you upset about marrying _another _man?" Sara just stared at him, this was obviously going nowhere.

"Of course I am upset! "She yelled but Jareth remained un-phased.

"Then there is nothing to worry about." Jareth continued to recline on the bed as Sara gaped at him, this was not the way she wanted him to respond.

"And why is that?" she inquired with a twinge of anger in her voice.

"Because, you will marry me." Jareth replied nonchalantly.

"Has everyone lost their minds?" she exclaimed exasperated. Sara wondered if there was some secret meeting she'd missed where everyone decided 17 was the age to get married. Jareth looked up at this, a confused glare crossing his normally amused expression. He eyed Sara curiously, hesitating; it seemed he was looking for the right words. Sara stared at him expectantly a little more annoyed than she had intended to portray.

"You don't want" he hesitated, Sara had never seen him at a loss for words before, it was beginning to unnerve her.

"What?" Sara barked, instantly realizing how shrill her voice sounded. Jareth subtly flinched. Sara felt guilty, she hadn't meant to take her anger out on Jareth; he just wasn't reacting the way she wanted. A crime akin to betrayal at this point, did he think she was such a safe bet that he didn't need to try? That thought brought back the anger she had felt towards Karen multiplied exponentially.

"I can't believe this, that's your only solution? I expected something a little better. What about my family? Yeah I hate Karen but what about my father? Toby? I can't believe my feelings so little to you!" Sara boiled unconscious of how every word sliced at Jareth. She didn't see the pain envelop his once amused eyes, or the way his jaw stiffened in an unattractive tormented smirk.

"Careful" he warned his voice soft and tight and dangerous, but Sara did not hear. Her ears were blocked with her misguided frustration.

"You know what? Since you obviously think I'm such a sure thing maybe I should let you in on a secret, you haven't asked me and I haven't said yes!" Sara yelled and promptly stormed from the room leaving Jareth standing shocked by her bed with an unreadable painful expression etched into his now somber features. His shoulders slumped in a subtle unattractive hunch as he cast his eyes downward to stare at the ring in his palm then clenched his fist and disappeared.

a/n: oh my what can be next? Stay tuned!

"He is the love-wolf

Gobbling in my cave

Within the pebbles beneath the Moringa tree

Eating of the bread offered to the gods" (anonymous Egyptian)


End file.
